Candidates for Illinois House district seats in the south and southwest suburbs are generally in agreement the state needs to step up its game in funding public education, which could help ease property tax burdens.
Responding to Daily Southtown questionnaires on issues such as school funding, property taxes and state finances, the candidates, primarily the Democratic incumbents, said progress has been made in restoring the state’s financial standing.
Apart from state funding, school districts rely largely on property tax revenue to finance their operations, and for virtually all property owners local school districts account for the biggest part of their property tax bill.
“I have spoken with residents who are concerned that they will need to leave Illinois due to ever-increasing property taxes,” wrote Republican candidate Patricia Bonk in her questionnaire. “This will place the loss of revenue on remaining Illinois residents.”
Some communities have seen tax bases erode as businesses have moved out or closed their doors, leaving the remaining taxpayers to shoulder a greater tax burden.
Incumbent Democrat Fran Hurley said property taxes and inflation for everyday purchases such as groceries and fuel are a major concern.
“High property taxes coupled with rising costs are one of the top issues as I talk to people across my community,” she wrote.
Most all of the candidates referenced Illinois’ evidence-based funding formula for schools, enacted five years ago, with many giving it high marks but saying there is still some way to go in achieving equitable funding for all districts.
“While I believe it has accomplished a lot, we still have many districts that are struggling and too reliant on property taxes to keep their doors open,” Rep. Anthony DeLuca, a Democrat and former mayor of Chicago Heights, said. “We must address the districts that remain the most underfunded and need the most help and support from the state.”
Republican Tom Toolis said the evidence-based formula “is a good start to ensure schools are appropriately funded by our state, but the governor and legislature must make it a budget priority.”
“With schools so dependent on property taxes, it’s up to all stakeholders to ensure funding levels are not dependent on ZIP code, but more equitable throughout the state,” Toolis wrote.
According to a recent report from the Partnership for Equity and Education Rights Illinois and the Education Law Center, despite five years of using the funding formula, 1.7 million students from 83% of Illinois school districts still attend underfunded schools.
The report found reaching the adequacy benchmarks put forth in the law requires more than $7 billion in additional state funding to properly fund school districts in the state, with a goal of reaching full funding by 2027.
The report notes “adequacy funding gaps,” or shortfalls between district funding targets under the formula and what districts receive from state and local funds.
Democrat incumbent Nicholas “Nick” Smith wrote that the evidence-based formula has helped in “funding schools in a fairer way and making sure that every child in Illinois has access to a quality public education.”
“However, there is always more work to be done and we must continue to move away from a system that puts the burden of funding schools on homeowners and moves to a system where the state is properly funding every unit of education in our state,” Smith said.
Republican Rep. Jackie Haas, who is being challenged by Erin Slone, said she supports evidence-based funding, although the state “falls far short of being the primary funder of education in Illinois, as our state constitution mandates.”
Slone also said that Illinois’ funding of schools doesn’t come close to what the constitution calls for — although what that actual amount or percentage should be has been a matter of lively debate.
“Illinois needs to make education a budgetary priority like it is in other states,” Slone wrote in her responses.
Boosting the level of state dollars “would decrease the overreliance by local districts on property taxes to fund their schools, not to mention providing relief to both homeowners and landlords,” she said.
Bonk said school districts that have one or two schools should be consolidated into other districts as a way to save costs.
“This could reduce the revenue presently needed for those school budgets,” Bonk wrote.
Nearly all candidates agreed fixing the state’s finances, including addressing unfunded pension debt, would help bring more businesses and residents to Illinois, which could help ease property tax burdens.
When it comes to looking for ways to trim state spending, candidates said that any cutting needs to be balanced.
“We do know that you cannot cut your way out of budget woes,” Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin wrote. “There has got to be a balanced approach where budget cuts are balanced with new additional revenue streams.”
Meyers-Martin said she wants to take a serious look at cutting state incentives for large corporations.
Incumbent Rep. Mary Flowers said the state should “be examining revenue options that reduce the burden on low-income and middle-class families by making the wealthiest pay their fair share, rather than cutting critical services.”
Republican challenger Beth O’Neil said small businesses “are struggling due to government mandates and high taxes so they are leaving Illinois.”
“I believe Illinois is so broken due to the overspending of our tax dollars for issues that should not be spent on tax payers,” O’Neil wrote. “I believe we don’t even know as average citizens where our tax dollars are going.”
Haas said businesses are leaving the state and choosing to grow elsewhere.
“When we get our finances under control and begin to show simple signs of stability, we can begin to reverse negative trends, which will in turn stimulate growth and create jobs,” Haas wrote. “Creating jobs grows our tax base instead of growing our tax rate.”
Hurley said Illinois has made strides in reducing its backlog of bills, and noted Illinois’ credit rating has been upgraded, something Gov. J.B. Pritzker has pointed out in campaign ads.
“Reducing costs and making government more efficient is always a goal of mine, and I would like to take a thorough and detailed look at the budget to determine areas where we can find savings,” Hurley wrote.
Republicans Quintin Barton, Jeffrey Coleman, Herbert Hebein, Al Kuypers, David Sheppard, Frederick Walls and Kenneth Yerkes did not respond to the Southtown questionnaire.
Democratic incumbents Kelly Burke, William Davis, Marcus Evans, Thaddeus Jones and Justin Slaughter also did not respond to the questions.
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State House candidates
Residents can learn which legislative district they are in, along with their voter registration status and polling place, at the following links.
For suburban Cook County: www.cookcountyclerkil.gov/elections/your-voter-information
For Will County: www.willcountyclerk.gov/elections/voter-services/#myinfo
For city of Chicago: chicagoelections.gov/en/your-voter-information.html
27th District
Democrat: Rep. Justin Slaughter
Republican: Beth O’Neil
29th District
Democrat: Rep. Thaddeus Jones
Republican: Jeffery Coleman
30th District
Democrat: Rep. William “Will” Davis
Republican: Patricia Bonk
31st District
Democrat: Rep. Mary E. Flowers
Republican: Kenneth Yerkes
33rd District
Democrat: Rep. Marcus C. Evans Jr.
Republican: Quintin Barton
34th District
Democrat: Rep. Nicholas “Nick” Smith
Republican: Frederick Walls
35th District
Democrat: Rep. Frances Ann Hurley
Republican: Herbert Hebein
36th District
Democrat: Rep. Kelly M. Burke
Republican: David Sheppard
38th District
Democrat: Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin
Republican: Tom Toolis
79th District
Democrat: Erin Slone
Republican: Jackie Haas
80th District
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Democrat: Rep. Anthony DeLuca
Republican: Al Kuypers Sr.